MHD Modeling of Conductors at Ultra-High Current Density

Abstract

In conjunction with ongoing high-current experiments on Sandia National Laboratories Z accelerator we have revisited a problem first described in detail by Heinz Knoepfel [1]. Unlike the 1-Tesla MITLs of pulsed power accelerators used to produce intense particle beams, Z's disc transmission line (downstream of the current addition) is in a 100-1200 Tesla regime, so ifs conductors cannot be modeled simply as static infinite conductivity boundaries. Using the MHD code [2,3] MACH2 we have been investigating the conductor hydrodynamics, characterizing the joule heating, magnetic field diffusion, and material deformation, pressure, and velocity over a range of current densities, current rise-times, and conductor materials. Three purposes of this work are (1) to quantify power flow losses owing to ultra-high magnetic fields, (2) to model the response of VISAR [4] diagnostics samples in various configurations in Z, and (3) to incorporate the most appropriate equation of state and conductivity models into our MHD computations. Certain features are strongly dependent on the details of the conductivity model. Comparison with measurements on Z will be discussed

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA639471

Entities

People

  • C. A. Hall
  • D. B. Reisman
  • J. R. Asay
  • M. H. Frese
  • M. P. Desjarlais
  • M. R. Douglas
  • R. B. Spielman
  • R. L. Morse
  • S. E. Rosenthal
  • W. A. Stygar

Organizations

  • Sandia National Laboratories

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ablative Materials
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Boundaries
  • Buildings And Structures
  • Conductivity
  • Current Density
  • Electrical Conductivity
  • Electron Density
  • Energy
  • Geometry
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Power
  • Pulsed Power
  • Simulations
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Pulsed-Laser Deposition